ADELANTO >> The city council tonight will consider proposals for two more prisons in this city, and protestors are expected to be in attendance to voice opposition.

On Nov. 4, the Adelanto Planning Commission approved a proposal by Nashville, TN.-based LCS Holdings, LLC. to build a 3,264-bed prison on 125 acres on the northeast corner of Violet and Emerald roads. The commission also approved changes to the city development code that will allow the prison to be built in a business park zoned for light manufacturing.

The proposed prison would accommodate Los Angeles County’s inmate overflow, but the county has yet to enter into any agreement with LCS and the man behind the company, Doctor Robert Crants, who is also the co-founder of the country’s first and largest private prison operator, Corrections Corporation of America.

During the same Nov. 4 meeting, the planning commission rejected a proposal by The Geo Group to build a 1,000-bed prison on 22 acres on the northeast corner of Holly and Koala roads. The commission’s primary reasons for denying the project were its proximity to Adelanto High School and the potential that prisoners would be directly released from the proposed prison into the general community, according to a staff report prepared for the city council.

The Geo Group has appealed the planning commission ruling to the city council. The company also owns and operates Adelanto Detention Facility East & West, which contracts with the federal government to place immigration detainees. It purchased the former state prison from the financially-strapped city in 2010.

City staff is recommending the city council approve both prison projects.

Adelanto Mayor Cari Thomas said the proposed 3,200-plus bed prison would generate between 2,000 to 3,000 new jobs and bring in $1.2 million in revenue annually to the city, while The Geo Group’s proposed 1,000-bed prison would generate hundreds of jobs and about $300,000 in annual revenue to the city. Advertisement